Considering what happened last Friday on Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques, I thought this a rather appropriate video to view heading into this week’s strips:
Perpetuum Jazzile is a Slovenian jazz choir which was founded in 1983. You can download some of their music at their site, and I strongly urge you to check out their online store as well.
When you think of the tools in a modern-day spy or investigative journalist’s toolbox, you picture tiny lipstick cameras or gigantic rooms housing servers dedicated to encryption and decryption. Now, thanks to a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, you can now add Yahoo!-owned photo hosting site Flickr and a home PC to that box.
According to Jim Giles at New Scientist.com, grad student Sam Burnett, assistant professor Nick Feamster, and professor Santosh Vempala have created a system that will allow a user to encrypt several news stories into digital images which can be uploaded to Flickr or perhaps any other widely used Internet .jpg hosting site.
Dubbed Collage, this program will be available for wide use in “a few weeks,” though the New Scientist.com article says it was available four days ago.
Though Mike Spector and Lauren A.E. Schuker at the Wall Street Journal say we’re about a month away from the rescue of the James Bond franchise (and other films and franchises) from ailing movie studio MGM by Spyglass Entertainment, I can’t stop thinking about what new and interesting gadgets, tools, and techniques will crop up in that film.
And considering that “Leverage” creator and writer John Rogers has said many times that he and his researchers find that what’s going on in reality is far more stranger than what they concoct for their idealized Crime World, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hardison hasn’t already downloaded this program into his hacker arsenal… just to be on top of things, you know?
When you’re gaming late at night at your favorite Internet cafe, you don’t expect to become fodder for your local news channel; however, that’s exactly what happened to some PC gamers in Hawaii last week:
Just like the reporters at local channel KHON, I don’t think that everyone in this sort of situation should fight back; however, given that the staff eventually knew who the alleged assailants were, I’m sure that Dylan Hays knew he’d be okay when he started fighting back.
Kudos to the midnight crew at PC Gamerz for defending their home.
When it comes to being a writer or actor, we currently live in interesting times—and by “interesting” I’m using the “Chinese curse” definition of the word.
Computers and the Internet have not only opened up a new distribution method for people to see their work and give them money for it, but also a way for people to view their work and keep from giving them money for it. The main point of contention during the Writers Guild Strike of 2007-2008 and the threatened Screen Actors Guild Strike of 2008 was over residuals from “new media,” and how much a production studio would pay them for re-broadcasts of the material over time beyond its initial broadcast.
To briefly summarize, rather than use the old mathematical formula created in the 1980s when home video became a concern or wait a few years to see exactly how profitable distribution on “new media” is and create a new formula, the WGA wanted the producers’ guild (the AMPTP) to create a new formula right now which would potentially address any and all concerns about how writers would get paid for work that has the potential to be seen and consumed in innumerable ways that aren’t easily tabulated thanks to things like click rates and online piracy.
Because that formula hasn’t been perfected yet and online piracy is still a problem, anyone who wants to start releasing their content on the ‘net is trying to figure out who their loyal paying audience (aka their True Fans) is and how to best get a hold of that person’s entertainment dollar.
About a month ago, Indie Wire.com blogger Cameron Carlson went to the “Producing Web Entertainment” seminar at the American Cinematheque in California, and came away with eight things he learned about how to best reach an Internet-based audience. However, the people on that panel and the series they were talking about were people I’d never heard of personally, which made me wonder: Exactly who are these guys and why would I want to believe their words on this topic?
After doing lots of clicking and a bit of research, I present to you my own list of five things I think these particular content creators are doing correctly and incorrectly when it comes to reaching out to a ‘net-savvy audience:
1. The folks at Babelgum.com allow for embedding, viewing fullscreen, and sharing via social networks on their video content hosting site and that’s great. However, they don’t have multiple options for embedding a la YouTube, and that’s bad. If I want to share your video with my friends on my blog, then I want to show you off in the best manner possible and a small inset ain’t gonna cut it. This kids’ re-enactment of the Bravo reality show “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” is pretty funny, but if the sample I’m showing you presents poorly, you’re not going to want to go to the source to see more, are you?
That’s a shame, as there’s some pretty good content over at Babelgum, including a BBC channel that has clips of shows like “The Young Ones” and “Red Dwarf” and many of the Improv Everywhere skits.
Overall grade: C+
2. I was fully prepared to give the gang at FearNet.com an awesome grade because they have an interesting selection of free R-rated movies that only require an age-checker to view, the female eye-candy host of their “Jobs of the Damned” original series seems pretty genre-savvy, and they already know their audience is going to be a bunch of horror buffs, so they don’t condescend when they conduct interviews, as seen above.
However, when I pasted the embed code for the video above into the text side of my WordPress Dashboard, a whole lot of clunky code came along with it, including a link to their ad network. Ugh.
Overall grade: B-
3. Sometimes, size really does matter and in this case, the lack of an adjustable embed code means that showing you this episode of “Easy to Assemble” is going to break some blogger templates and even some LiveJournal pages, so good luck sharing it with your friends. By far, this is the slickest of the productions we’ve seen in this review, but there’s just one major problem I have: Why does the About page only contain a press release for the second season?
Part of what turns a casual viewer into a True Fan these days is the level of access to the creators of that content and the amount of information those creators are willing to provide. If you’re not even willing to have a FAQ section available on your site to explain exactly why actual Hollywood stars like Illeana Douglas, Justine Bateman and Ed Begely, Jr. are schilling for IKEA in a quirky web series, then I’m not going to want to watch it, no matter how many Streamys it has won.
Overall grade: C
4. See what I mean about breaking templates? I really, really like “Imaginary Bitches,” even if I’m not their target demographic of women who do “lunch with the girls” and make plans to go shopping. The conceit of main character Eden (played by Eden Riegel, best-known as Bianca from “All My Children”) creating bitchy imaginary friends because her real-life friends are all in relationships and have abandoned her is so freaking interesting to me because it’s an unusual take on a very common situation.
The embed issue aside, the other problem I have with IB is the lack of consistency on the Cast page. Props go to male cast members Michael Traynor and Billy Aaron Brown for following Eden’s example and deciding to relish in the playful spirit of Internet TV and having such playful bios for their cast pages.
With the exception of Brooke Nevin, the rest of the female cast didn’t follow suit at all, which makes them all look like, well, bitches.
Overall grade: B-
5. And as long as I’m at it, I’m also gonna give some props to Strike TV, because just in the same way that Joss Whedon was bored, wanted something to do during the Writers’ Strike, and came up with “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog,” every single series in this long list was created because some writer had an idea, was able to go out and realize it, and someone gave it a home.
I am now about to take those props away because not only is the management team nothing but guys, but it doesn’t seem like any of the blogs or any of the other series have been updated since 2009. If a bunch of Canadians living on an island off the coast of Washington state can produce at least one video a week for over six years while trying to maintain a day job or school, you’d think a bunch of Hollywood screenwriters could do the same, yes?
Overall grade: F
Ultimately, as Carlson concluded, just as the plate engravers looked askance at Johannes Gutenberg or silent film stars cursed Al Jolson’s name under their breaths, the successes or failures of the Hollywood players in this article are probably being well-scrutinized by the bean counters at the AMPTP. I don’t agree, however, that it’s these particular creators who will be the “shovel sellers.”
In fact, I’m going to make a bold prediction right now and say that it’s going to be some unknown creator who’s going to come up with a product, video format, level of popularity and transparency, and price security that will propel Internet-original entertainment beyond the comparatively niche circle it currently enjoys.
Until a miracle happens and I’m able to justify spending gobs of money to go, it’s highly unlikely that I’m going to be able to provide the kind of coverage of Comic Con (aka “Nerd Prom”) or any other major geekfest that you deserve. However, what I can do now and going forward is to highlight the stuff that really turned my crank:
“I cannot read screenplays, but if you have a portfolio, or you have a short you want me to see, fuck it, give it to me. If you see me on the floor, accost me,” he challenged the crowd. And he also gave his public email address for them to contact him.
(Source: The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision blog)
More to come when I’m feeling less tired.
The Masquerade at this weekend’s San Diego Comic Con will undoubtedly feature some awesome feats of costumery and stagecraft; however, I think these guys have got them beat:
Part of the Calgaray Zoo’s summer exhibition called “Dinosaurs Alive!”, the costumes and this skit alone are enough to make anyone want to plan a trip to Alberta, Canada this summer. Now open till October 31.
Submitted without context:
Related Posts: Ghostbusters 3 filming in NYC?
I enjoy doing outdoorsy-type activities in addition to playing games, and I have a big, yellow off-road vehicle that I like to drive into the mountains when I go camping and hiking, etc. I was recently looking for tires for this vehicle and so spent some time on web forums for off-roading geeks. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, among off-road geeks, tire brands are debated with the same ferocity as game geeks argue their positions in the console wars.
—The Escapist Magazine‘s editor-in-chief Russ Pitts has an awesome answer to a run-of-the-mill question.
(BTW, congrats on the five-year anniversary!)
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In preparing for our Twilight-themed trivia contest—you have only 8 more hours to turn in your submission!—I read up as much as I could about the saga; however, I think I’ve just discovered the very last article I will ever read about it.
Enter one Tom Barrack, the head of a $16 billion multi-national investment firm whose hands are deep into pockets the Station casinos you see off the strip in Las Vegas and whose firm may even be still in the running to buy the troubled Miramax studio. Apparently Barrack was bored on his yacht off the Turkish shores one day and ended up reading the first three novels when a business meeting was unexpectedly canceled.
He was so inspired by the tale that he fired off a lengthy internal memo to all his employees, which was leaked to the Wall Street Journal and posted for all to see:
As I sat there with nothing to do the [Twilight] book kept taunting me. I began to think that there must be something I don’t understand. What could it be? What is it all about? Women don’t just read these books, they live them. They become each paragraph. I picked it up, but then immediately dropped it like a hot coal. What if someone saw me reading this? My macho reputation would be finished! I would be kicked out of the bench press section of the gym. My polo compadres would send me packing to the pony rides and my surfing buddies would exile me to the kiddie pool.
But it was a long night and there was absolutely nothing, and I mean NOTHING else to do. [Ed. note: You’re rich; couldn’t you have called some of your buddies in town over for a high stakes poker game?] Long story short—not only did I read Twilight, I read the other two as well!! I was fascinated, captivated even. However, what intrigued me was not the same thing that hooked the millions of women whose lives and had been changed by this series, but something else entirely.
For you male [Colony employees], here is a brief synopsis. Stubborn teenage girl meets a handsome but moody vampire and against all odds they fall in love.
Here is my macho take—Stephanie Meyer is a total genius.
Barrack’s main point is that he and his employees shouldn’t be afraid to think “outside the box” when it comes to finding inspiration to guide them in their work:
Once I ventured into the books I learned something. I now understand why some women are emotionally altered from merely reading a book. I have also gained a deeper realization that understanding the circumstances and points of views of those with whom we are negotiating, working, living, loving or fighting is the key determinant factor in an enduring relationship.
In every day business, we think we know it all. We are the captains of our industry and we possess all the global knowledge. That which we don’t understand we push a button and it appears before us. We are lacking creativity…. it is hard for us to dream… harder for us to change our lives… hard to live in a situation that other people view as unconventional. And for sure, we all have no idea on how to be satisfied with the status quo.
I totally can get behind something like that, and if more “titans of the industries” thought that way, then maybe we would see more people of color in science fiction and less Hollywood remakes of existing franchises. One big question lingers in my mind, though: “How would Tom Barrack have reacted if someone had left Ender’s Game on board that boat instead?”
While I am not a total dance geek or nerd, I loved watching the ballroom dance competitions on my local PBS affiliate as a kid; Strictly Ballroom is one of my favorite movies as a result of this childhood fascination as well.
The best part of watching the ballroom dance competitions were the exhibition dances where notable pros and amateurs got to “go wild” and show off their more fun routines, flips, spins, and aerial lifts. And just like in competitive ice skating, if there are costumes, it’s even better.
Well, I believe I’ve found one video that not only exemplifies the fun of watching ballroom dance, but also adds in an additional geeky flair, courtesy of dancers Orion Hall and Colleen Vernon:
…especially if you choose to view this at work, because courtesy of British film editor Harry Hanrahan, I present The 100 Greatest (and Profane) Movie Insults of All Time:
(Special thanks to the gang at Pajiba.com, who hunted down the names of all the movies in the clip.)
Back in May, the Internet was a-buzz with the release of the Batman XXX: A Porn Parody trailer. And while I’d normally link it here because I’m not a prude and I’m assuming you all are adults, I won’t because even if the version on the BoingBoing site is totally “safe for work,” I still feel guilty even writing about it while I’m at my desk.
However, what I really wanted to link you to is this oh-so-clever review of the film done in comic-strip form by by Ward Sutton, mostly because he manages to take every visual incarnation of Batman there ever was (including the LEGO version) and put them all into one strip. That takes a lot of artistic talent, and reminds me of the Batman: TAS episode called “Legends of the Dark Knight” (yes, the one with the poke-in-the-eye for Joel Schumacher), which did the same thing, but animated (they stuck to Dick Sprang and Frank Miller’s work).
The review alone—especially Sutton’s assertion that they used the actual 1960s TV series Batmobile—is pretty damn awesome and has firmly placed the movie into a “Rent if you’re secure enough not to download or pirate porn” list.
If you’re in Australia and are afraid of the “spams coming through the portal,” Kogan has got you covered.
The Australian online electronics retailer is marketing a top-notch, state of the art “filter” which will protect you and keep you from being infected by the spams and scams.
With a thread count of 8000, our product provides direct physical protection from threats coming through the internet portal. Annoying spams and scams will be deflected away using our innovative technology.
Setting up the Kogan portal filter is simple. Create a protection barrier using our portal filter and you’re instantly protected. If you need to protect the family and the Government’s red panic button isn’t helping, simply apply the barrier to your home internet area. This is the best portal protection available in the world.
Thanks to Techdirt for the heads-up!
If I had a small daughter, I would try to wean her away from Edward Cullen and Miley Cyrus and towards such anime series as the thrilling steampunk saga Nadia: Secret of Blue Water — inspired by Jules Verne, conceived by Miyazaki and featuring a 14-year-old lion tamer/acrobat in 1889 Paris. And I would teach her to read subtitles, so she wouldn’t have to settle for naff dubbed versions. You want strong female role models? Anime’s got them in spades.
—The Guardian film critic Anne Billson (@annebillson), finally discovers something anime geeks have known for ages.